Two San Diego Padres beat writers have reported that starting pitcher James Shields will make his decision regarding the Padres' latest offer to him either Sunday or Monday. Dennis Lin of the Union-Times San Diego and Willliam Boor of MLB.com both made the report as early as Saturday night.

Sounds like James Shields' decision could now come either today or Mon. Believe he was told early Saturday that Padres had made final offer.

— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) February 8, 2015

In his Saturday night report, Boor said that several teams still have an outside chance at signing the big right-hander, but the Padres still remain the front runners. Shields may get just under four years and $80 million according to ESPN sources that Boor cited. 

CBS Sports.com has Shields as its #3 free agent starting pitcher. Like the rest of us, he saw the top two sign for much larger contracts in terms of both money and tenure. The top starter, Max Scherzer, signed a seven-year, $210-million contract with the Washington Nationals just recently, and #2 man Jon Lester recived a contract for six years and $155 million from the Chicago Cubs earlier in the offseason. Shields may not get a contract that big, but he will cash in on what he has done so far as a Major League pitcher.

"Big Game James" has a career record of 114-90 with a 3.72 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and 21.7 WAR in nine seasons. He spent his first eight years with the Tampa Bay Rays (87-73, 3.89 ERA) before signing a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals for 2014. Last year with the Royals, Shields finished with a record of 14-8, 3.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 3.3 WAR in a league-leading 34 starts. He also sturck out 180 hitters and walked only 44 in 227 innings. He struggled in the postseason, but he pitched very well all year, especially down the stretch when the Royals were fighting for a wild card berth and a near-division title.

FOX Sports and MLB Network baseball analyst Jon Morosi tweeted early Sunday morning that the Padres will sign Shields. However, the two sides are still woking on the terms says NBC Sports' RotoWorld. According to Boor, Shields should make his decision by Sunday night or some time Monday.